Happily Ever After
by CSakuraS
Summary: Drosselmyer was wrong. There's more to a fairytale ending than a few words at the end of a book. At least, for this story... Postseries, Mytho x Rue
1. Getting To Know Him

Why I wrote this fic: While I like Rue and Mytho as individual characters, personally I never found their relationship all that interesting. So I guess you could say this is my way of making it interesting for myself. Also, there's so much room to explore in their relationship after the series, and so many questions that pop up into my mind when I actually think of what their lives will be like from now on, that I wanted to try my hand at writing it.

Most chapters will probably be short, as this is looking to be more like a collection of drabbles dealing with the subject of Rue and Mytho adjusting to their new lives and to each other. In this first chapter, I wanted to explore the fact that we really don't know much about the Prince...I mean, we only get to see him with all of his heart back in the final episode!

* * *

Chapter 1: Getting to Know Him

Despite knowing him her entire life, Rue realized now that she never really _knew_ him. At times, being with Mytho felt like she was with a stranger. She loved him nonetheless, of course, but still it was like getting to know a new person.

Mytho had likes and dislikes. The first week in the castle, she discovered that he liked to get up early in the morning to start the day with dancing. He didn't eat breakfast, preferring to have a late brunch in the afternoon instead. He didn't like runny eggs.

She found this funny because, before, when he didn't have a heart, he was fine with eating his eggs cooked in any way…of course, back then he didn't show preference for any foods either.

Mytho got angry sometimes. Once, when there was a problem in the kingdom, and Mytho had been stressed all afternoon, Rue innocently asked him for a dance to clear his mood. He snapped at her that this wasn't the time.

It wasn't the same as when his heart had been stained with the Raven's blood (though perhaps it was still there, hidden deep within), but it was a normal, human response. He apologized to her later on, and they danced all night to make it up.

She also realized that in some ways, Mytho was no longer just a perfect prince from a story. She saw it in the way he interacted with the people in the kingdom. He had carried something back from his life in the real world, those experiences making him so much more real than what she'd read in the book. He was now truly a story come to life.


	2. Idyll

Whenever I read fanfiction that describes Prince Siegfried's kingdom, I always gag and think to myself, "How can they STAND living in a place like that?"

And also, I wanted to show how I think Mytho might have "changed" in the first chapter…

Poor Fakir, I bet he tried so hard to make their lives peaceful too. XD

* * *

Chapter 2: Idyll

Life was idyllic, just as he remembered it from before the Raven first appeared, so long ago. It was so ideal that it even seemed absurd. Of course, Mytho saw nothing wrong with this, but there was a time when heard a chuckle, and turned to see Rue struggling to hold back laughter.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's just so _cliché_," she giggled. "The peasants are cheerful and hardworking, the knights are all charming and brave, the maidens fair and innocent. What would Fakir and Ahiru think if they saw this?"

He didn't know what they would think, but he thought he could understand a little of what she meant. Sometimes, if there was no trouble brewing anywhere in the kingdom, he would subtly, unconsciously, try to cause some himself. Just one little comment could lead to a bar fight, and before he'd know it, his fellow storybook people would start breaking out of their stereotypes.

Mytho grinned, and apologized mentally to Fakir for all his efforts. An idyllic life was nice, but this was more exciting.


	3. Damsel in Distress

Further exploring the implications of living in a fairytale kingdom… (The former Princes Kraehe will NOT stand for this kind of treatment!)

* * *

Chapter 3: Damsel in Distress

Rue was not at first aware of the responsibilities that came with being a princess in a story. Being a princess meant that dragons and other nasty creatures would be after her constantly. One day, she was out taking a stroll in the gardens, when a troll snuck out from behind a tree and grabbed her.

Rue shrieked, and struggled all the way as the troll tried to carry her out of the castle grounds.

The troll seemed puzzled. "Urg? Why you fight so hard?"

"Isn't it obvious?!" Rue screamed.

"Pwincesses supposda faint when I gwab 'em."

"Too bad for you then, isn't it?!" She pounded on the troll's back, scratched at its skin, but nothing made it want to put her down. And for cripes sake, the thing was disgusting! It had already made a mess of her beautiful dress! "Why do you want to kidnap me, anyway?"

The troll scratched its head. "Urg…I dunno. I take you to cave then prince supposda save you."

Rue sighed. Typical fairytale logic. "Well if you put me down for a minute, I can faint for you, and then we can start this all over. Would that make you happy?"

"Urg!" The troll flashed its gnarly teeth in a smile, and set her down on her feet. It waited.

Rue kicked it. Right where it hurts. The troll croaked and fell over, clutching between its legs. Rue then huffed and made her way back to the castle to get a new dress.


	4. Shadow of a Doubt

And now starts the angst. Because Rue has issues. D:

* * *

Chapter 4: Shadow of a Doubt

A few months had passed since they'd first arrived back in the story. Mytho had been invited to visit a town in a far-off province of the kingdom. The people wished to welcome back their prince and profess their undying loyalty, admiration, love, and so forth. It was rather routine.

Of course, he brought Rue along. The people in the town took to her at once, and swarmed around her in awe. "So this is the lady our beloved prince has chosen! What a beauty!"

Rue looked rather flattered. But she took this in stride very quickly, and assumed the air of royalty almost naturally.

So it came as a surprise when on the last day, Mytho turned to speak to her in the streets and found her gone. When he asked the people around him whether they had seen her, no one seemed to have noticed her disappearance. He called her name. He did not get an answer.

Frankly, this scared him. But the feeling of Fear was not for his own safety.

He promptly called off the parade and turned it into a search party. For the next hour, he roamed the streets, calling for her. And then finally, he heard an answer.

"Go away!"

Not exactly what he was expecting.

But still, he followed the voice. Turning a corner, he found her standing in a dark cul-de-sac with her back facing him. She was staring up at the roof of a house, where a crow sat perched.

"I said GO AWAY!" she screamed at it.

The crow blinked at her quizzically, and cawed.

"No! Be quiet!" She stamped her foot, sounding desperate.

"Rue!" Mytho called.

Rue froze. The crow flapped its wings and flew away.

"…Prince." She turned to look at him, and he recognized fear in her eyes.

"Are you all right?" He approached her, slowly.

"I'm…yes. I'm fine." She breathed in, her voice shaky.

He came to her side and put an arm around her waist, pulling her to him. She laid her head on his shoulder.

"The Raven is dead, you know," he said.

"I know. I know, but…" Rue sighed. She looked up at him. "Can we go home now?"

_Home._ A part of his heart clenched at that word. He couldn't tell which shard. Maybe it was several mixed together. And the expression on her face…hesitant, unsure, lost. It reminded him of her when she was younger, a young girl raised by a Raven, asking if she could come see him again sometime.

"Of course, my princess."


	5. Early Birds

Hmm, now that I'm writing it, I'm starting to become very fond of this pairing. I guess that means my 'make it interesting' self-challenge worked?

And I keep changing my mind on what genres I should have labeled for this fic. One moment it's fluff, then humor, then angst, then back to fluff again…

* * *

Chapter 5: Early Birds

Sometimes, she thought that it was all too easy. The people around her accepted her with barely a thought, taking the prince's word as truth. But did they really know her?

As more time passed, Rue found herself feeling afraid of losing their love. What would they do if they found out that she had the Raven's blood in her? Would they think she is unfit to be with the prince? And would they be right?

A part of her knew that the very fact that she felt this might have been an effect of the Raven's blood, and that did nothing to help her confidence.

After all, the Prince's homeland was also the homeland of the Raven. She could still feel her veins throb painfully at every feathered shadow that crossed her path.

It _was_ too easy. Sometimes she wondered if all this was just a dream. Another illusion conjured for her by the Raven to lure her into a false sense of security. If that was so, she wished never to wake up. At least Sleeping Beauty had a prince to wake her; for the longest time, Princess Kraehe had no such assurance.

One night, Rue found herself unable to fall asleep. It's not that she was plagued with nightmares (thankfully, those faded away within her first month in the kingdom), but a restless, nervous energy had taken over her mind. Realizing that rolling around in bed was unproductive, she got up and began roaming the halls of the castle.

The night was peaceful and quiet. The long, tall windows revealed to her a sky ablaze in stars, waltzing across the sky in neat constellations, each with its own story attached.

She sat by a window that overlooked the moon-lit gardens, and put her cheek against the cool glass. What a beautiful place. It was really too good to be true. Did she truly deserve to be this happy?

---

She was woken up by a soft touch on her shoulder. Opening her eyes, Rue saw Mytho looking down at her with an expression of concern, and realized that she must have fallen asleep still sitting beside the window.

She blushed, embarrassed at being caught in her nightgown. Mytho was in his dancing outfit- casual, allowing for free movement yet still somehow carrying a princely air about it. He had woken up to dance; after all, it was already past dawn.

"Rue? Is there something wrong?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I couldn't sleep, that's all."

He examined her face for a few seconds, then offered her a hand. She took it, and he pulled her to her feet, and just as fluidly, into a dance.

This startled her, but her body still moved on its own, following his lead. "In my nightgown?!"

"Yes, in your nightgown," he smiled at her.

They danced a pas de deux together in the pale morning light coming from the window. As the sun continued to rise, sunbeams ever increasing in brightness cast their dim shadows onto the floor, mirroring their own graceful movements.

How strange. She always hated morning practices back in the academy, but this time it felt so refreshing…

At the end, he kissed her. A very deep kiss. Well, this was new.

She could feel her face flush when they parted. Mytho's eyes held the same kindness of affection that she'd grown to love since the night of the Fire Festival.

"Feeling better?" he asked her.

"I'm…" Honestly, how was she supposed to answer that? Instead, she dug her fingers into his hair and pulled him into another kiss.


	6. Memoirs of a Paper Castle

Here I shall attempt to answer another question that's been on my mind:

Prince Siegfried and his kingdom were born from the pages of a book. His world is made with words, ink, and paper. So what about the things that weren't written? Do they actually exist?

* * *

Chapter 6: Memoirs of a Paper Castle

They were walking through the castle one afternoon when Rue paused to look at a portrait hanging on the wall above a staircase. It showed a young boy with white hair, standing at that very staircase, his hand on the railing. The boy had a sheathed rapier hung from his belt, and a blank expression on his face.

"Whenever we pass by this staircase, you always stop to look at that portrait. Is it that interesting?" Mytho asked her, curiously.

"Not interesting, exactly…I just wonder what he's thinking."

"He's thinking of all the other things he'd rather do than stand there posing all day. It was very tiring. I see the painter forgot to add the disgruntled look on my face." Mytho smiled fondly at the memory.

But Rue looked surprised. "That's really you?"

"Of course. Why do you ask?"

"It's just…I don't remember your childhood ever being mentioned in the book."

Mytho had to think for a minute before he realized she was talking about _The Prince and the Raven_. "I suppose Drosselmyer must have forgotten to write about it. Maybe he didn't think it was important. Or maybe he didn't care to think of it at all."

"But you still remember it?" Now it was Rue's turn to be curious.

"Quite well. And see, there's the proof that it existed." He pointed at the portrait.

Rue remained silent, so he continued talking.

"Maybe we really didn't exist until he created us, but as far as I know, this place has always existed. It has a history that goes back farther than what he's written. There are things about me that he will never know. We're just as real as he is, now, and we always will be."

After thinking this over, Rue finally asked, "Then what about your parents? You must have had a mother and father."

"Indeed, I did. Do you recall the portrait hung in the Great Hall, above the fireplace? The man with the beard and the woman sitting next to him- they're the former king and queen, my parents."

Rue gasped. "I thought they looked like you! Where are they now?"

He stopped smiling. "They were killed by the Raven. I suppose Drosselmyer must have forgotten to write about that, too."

"…Oh. I see…"

They were both silent for a while.

Mytho decided to change the subject. "And what about you, Rue? Haven't you thought about finding your real parents?" It was a bit too late for that, but…

Rue shook her head. "I don't know them, and they don't know me. I don't see the point in meeting them now."

"They might be happy to meet you, though," he suggested gently.

For a moment her eyes looked distant, as if she were considering all the possibilities for the first time. A normal home, a loving family…

But then she shook her head and took his hand. "No. I'd rather stay here with you."

He smiled again.

They looked back at the portrait.

"I expect I'll continue aging as well, now that I'm back where I belong." He squeezed her hand. "Want to grow old together?"

Rue giggled. At his questioning glance, she explained, "I'm trying to imagine you with a beard."

"Do you want me to grow a beard?"

"I think you would look funny."

"Maybe I'll grow one if you ever need to be cheered up."

They laughed together. "That just might work."


End file.
